Top Items:
Microsoft:
Mac Meets PC With New Office Release — Microsoft launches Office 2011 for Mac today, bringing Mac users the latest versions of the company's productivity software. The release is the latest effort from the Office for Mac team, which has been delivering Microsoft software to the Mac for 13 years.
James Galbraith / Macworld:
Lab report: MacBook Air benchmark results — There's a lot to like in Apple's latest version of the MacBook Air, such as the smaller size, longer battery life and faster flash storage. Still, I was disappointed that the new MacBook Air uses the aging Core 2 Duo processor.
Discussion:
PC World, TUAW, LAPTOP Mag, Gizmodo, Cult of Mac, Daring Fireball, iClarified and MacRumors
RELATED:
Eric Slivka / MacRumors:
New Benchmarks Show 13-Inch MacBook Air Rivaling Its MacBook Pro Counterpart
Discussion:
Macworld, Electronista and Primate Labs Blog
Thomas Catan / Wall Street Journal:
Travel Sites Ally to Block Google Deal — WASHINGTON—Several popular online travel companies are joining forces to oppose Google Inc.'s proposed $700 million purchase of ITA Software Inc., the leading provider of flight data, saying the deal would give it too much sway over the travel sector.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Ars Technica, ReadWriteWeb, CNET News, Daring Fireball, Search Engine Journal, Hillicon Valley, Digital Society, TechFlash, Reuters and Fair Search
RELATED:
Andrew Silverman / Google Public Policy Blog:
Giving users the best answer, and competing fair and square in travel search — Since we announced our plans to acquire ITA Software in July, we've spent a lot of time talking with players in the online travel industry — airlines, travel agents, and search sites — about our plans …
Discussion:
Fortune, Digits, Computerworld, Softpedia News, Tnooz, SiliconANGLE and The Next Web
Andrew Munchbach / Boy Genius Report:
White iPhone 4 shows up in Apple's ‘Store’ app, reserve yours now — Last night, Apple released an update to their Apple Store iPhone app. While there wasn't anything new in the way of features, it did contain something notable... the ability to reserve a white iPhone 4.
Discussion:
Redmond Pie, Pulse2, App Advice, Macworld, Engadget, TiPb, Gizmodo, 9 to 5 Mac, Erictric, PhoneDog.com, BlogsDNA, MobileCrunch, everythingiCafe, Softpedia News, Covering Web and MacDailyNews
Andrew Munchbach / Boy Genius Report:
T-Mobile to debut tethering plan on November 3rd, $14.99 — Listen up T-Mobile tetherers, we've just been sent in some intel that indicates America's fourth largest carrier will begin to offer/charge for tethering on November 3rd. The Tethering and Wi-Fi Sharing Add-On …
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
PayPal Unveils Micropayments For Digital Goods, Facebook Signs Up — At the company's annual developer conference today, PayPal debuted its much awaited micropayments product. According to a release issued by the company, the new product is an “in-context, frictionless payment solution …
Discussion:
GigaOM, SAI, VentureBeat, All Facebook, Inside Facebook, Business Wire, ReadWriteWeb, Mashable!, The Next Web and All Things Digital
Ari Levy / Bloomberg:
Zynga Value Surpasses Electronic Arts' — Oct. 26 (Bloomberg) — Zynga Game Network Inc.'s estimated worth surpassed Electronic Arts Inc.'s stock-market value, a sign of the ascendance of social-networking entertainment at the expense of traditional video games.
Discussion:
CNET News, VentureBeat, Venture Capital Dispatch, Pulse2, Digital Trends, Gadgetell, VG247, Mobile Entertainment, TechSpot, DailyFinance, Edge Magazine and GMSV
Rob Crossley / Develop:
Steve Jobs ‘raged at Microsoft’ over game studio sale — Apple boss made angry Ballmer call when Xbox bought Mac experts and Halo creators Bungie — Steve Jobs' capacity to accurately detect the blockbuster potential of consumer goods may go beyond the realm of MP3 players and smartphones and right into video games.
Discussion:
9 to 5 Mac, Neowin.net, MacStories, VG247, winrumors, iClarified, The Loop, Destructoid and MacDailyNews
Declan McCullagh / CNET News:
Amazon wins fight to keep customer records private — In a victory for the free speech and privacy rights of Amazon.com customers, a federal judge ruled today that the company would not have to turn over detailed records on nearly 50 million purchases to North Carolina tax collectors.
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Amazon Launches Brand New iPad Shopping App Called Windowshop — Amazon has just released a new free iPad app, called Amazon Windowshop that the company says is a complete “rewrite” of Amazon.com specifically for the iPad. Optimized for touch screen tablets, Amazon Windowshop makes it easy …
Discussion:
Bits, TechFlash, The Toybox Blog, Computerworld, Business Wire, ReadWriteWeb, Gizmodo and GottaBeMobile
Cari Tuna / Digits:
Cloudera Raises Hefty Funding Round — Cloudera, a key distributor of software that helps companies analyze big piles of data, has raised another $25 million. — The announcement marks the closely held company's third round of funding, which will be led by Meritech Capital Partners …
Discussion:
VentureBeat, alarm:clock, Pulse2, TechCrunch, ReadWriteWeb, Between the Lines Blog and silicontap.com
Alexei Oreskovic / MediaFile:
Attention WalMart and BestBuy Shoppers - Facebook Credits on aisle 5 — It's been about nine months since Facebook rolled out its virtual currency, Facebook Credits. — Now the Internet social networking giant will make its Credits widely available in the physical world …
Discussion:
VatorNews, Inside Facebook, All Facebook, SiliconANGLE, MarketingVOX and ReadWriteWeb, Thanks:marissac
Dr. Raymond M. Soneira / Gizmodo:
Why iPhone 4 and Android Brightness Controls Are Effectively Useless — Your phone display's brightness consumes up to half of its power. And chances are it's being horribly mismanaged, thanks to bad engineering and a backwards user interface. Here, Dr. Raymond Soneira …
Discussion:
Technologizer and The Apple Core Blog
Josh Ong / AppleInsider:
Apple Stores to use new Concierge app for customer check-ins [u] — Apple retail stores will soon launch a new wireless check-in service that will allow employees to manage a queue of customers using a custom iOS app called Concierge, according to a new report.
Discussion:
ReadWriteWeb, App Advice, Macworld, MacStories, Boy Genius Report, msnbc.com, Fast Company, MacRumors, Gearlog, BlogsDNA, ifoAppleStore, Softpedia News, Erictric, 9 to 5 Mac, Ubergizmo and iClarified
Josh Lowensohn / Crave: The gadget blog:
Vimeo gets ‘couch mode’ for Google TV, HTPCs — Vimeo's “couch mode” has been designed so Google TV and home theater PC users can watch Vimeo's video content from across the room. — Watching Web videos on your couch is nothing new, but with Google TV's rollout now in full swing …
Discussion:
Vimeo Blog, VentureBeat, NewTeeVee, Erictric and Engadget
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Get Ready For Blekko: Public Launch On November 1 — Blekko, the shiny new search engine that we first started covering way back in 2008 when they had a hand puppet as their mascot, is preparing to launch. Next Monday, November 1, they'll turn the lights on and let anyone in.
Discussion:
Search Engine Land
Dumplings from this Panda!:
Did Digg game its own system to benefit publisher partners? — Digg recently published a blog post titled “Digg's Algorithmic Mystery Tour” on October, 15th. While a Digg blog post is a normal thing, a post about the algorithm was very surprising to me. Why did Digg, which never bothers …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Techie Buzz, The Original Smarterotti, VatorNews and Digg Blog, more at Mediagazer », Thanks:jboitnott
Jeffrey R. Young / Chronicle of Higher Education:
To Save Students Money, Colleges May Force a Switch to E-Textbooks — You've heard it before: Digital technologies blew up the music industry's moneymaking model, and the textbook business is next. — For years observers have predicted a coming wave of e-textbooks. But so far it just hasn't happened.
Discussion:
TeleRead, Gadgetell and eCampus News
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Twitter Hits 300 Employees (Again?) As The Search For A New Office Continues — This past June, we noted that Twitter had zoomed past 200 employees — basically doubling in just six months. The rapid hiring pace continues at the startup, though not quite as quickly.
Staci D. Kramer / paidContent:
The Leash Is Off: Comcast Digital Subs Can Access Xfinity TV From Any ISP — In a big step forward for the TV Everywhere concept, Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA) is taking the beta tag off Xfinity TV and opening more than 150,000 hours of online content to all of its digital video subs—no matter which ISP they use.
Discussion:
Comcast Official Site, Connecting the Dots and Comcast Voices
Greg Sterling / Search Engine Land:
Business Photos Help Build Google Places/Maps Brand Identity — Google's effort to bring photographers to local businesses to capture interior and exterior images now bearing fruit. The company announced that the images that its contractors have been collecting (all over the world) are now online:
Discussion:
Google LatLong and Search Engine Journal
Owen Fletcher / China Real Time Report:
People's Daily: iPad Cool, But Not Pirate-Friendly (UPDATED) … See clarification below. — The ruling Chinese Communist Party is not often linked with cutting-edge technology, or tech fashion, but a recent column in its official newspaper nonetheless gives loyal readers a primer on Apple's iPad - including an unlikely criticism.
